Seeing pity in Josiah’s eyes makes me want to kick something. Raffe helped me, but now I can’t help him. A girl who can’t fly can’t play in angel games.
I look at the cages on the field. The two remaining hellions are attacking each other and fighting around Beliel. They probably would have shoved me in there too if Raffe hadn’t named me his second. How long would I last in there?
‘Uriel’s right,’ says Raffe. ‘I don’t have my Watchers anymore. I can’t count on anyone stepping into their duties.’
‘The warriors still talk about them, you know,’ says Josiah. ‘No group has come close to being the elite fighting team that the Watchers were. They’ve become legend.’ He shakes his head. ‘What a waste. And all because of—’ He looks at me with some hostility in his eyes and bites off whatever insult he was going to call Daughters of Men.
‘Don’t blame the women for the angels breaking your own stupid rules. Their women didn’t even break any rules, but they got punished anyway.’
‘The Watchers would still be here if it weren’t for the Daughters of Men,’ says Josiah. ‘We lost our most elite group of warriors because they married your kind. The least you can do is have the decency to—’
‘Enough,’ says Raffe. ‘The Watchers are gone and arguing about whose fault it is won’t bring them back. The only question left is, can we find a substitute?’
‘Where are they now?’ I suspect they’re still in the Pit, but who knows? I think what I saw in Beliel’s memory was from a long time ago.
They both glance at Beliel. He’s swatting at the hellions who are squabbling near his shoulder. They fly away from him to hang on to the bars and stare at us.
No, not at us.
At my sword.
The Pit hellions want to go home. However bad it was there, it had to have been better than being caged, waiting to be killed.
Home.
‘What if we could go into the Pit and get the Watchers?’ I ask.
It’s an insane thought, one I wouldn’t consider if the entire human race didn’t depend on it. If Raffe could dethrone Uriel, then no more war, right?
The guys glance at each other as if wondering whether I’ve lost my mind. ‘No one voluntarily goes into the Pit,’ says Raffe, scowling at me.
‘And once you’re in, you don’t get out without being let out by the Pit lords,’ says Josiah. ‘That’s the problem with the Pit. Otherwise, newly Fallen angels would be rescued left and right.’
‘Besides,’ says Raffe, looking at Beliel. ‘The Watchers aren’t what they used to be.’
‘What if we could get the Watchers you remember?’ I ask. I nod toward Beliel. ‘The Watchers he remembers?’
Raffe looks back at me, and I see a spark of interest.
34
We half drag, half fly Beliel’s cage off the torn grass toward an outer building that’s out of sight of the main hotel.
‘Do we have any reason to believe it’ll work both ways?’ asks Josiah.
‘I was hoping you guys would know,’ I say.
‘There are ancient stories of hellions jumping out through very powerful swords,’ says Raffe. ‘But there’s never been a reason to jump into the Pit.’
‘You mean to tell me that I discovered a talent of your beloved swords that even you guys didn’t know about?’ I pull as hard as I can on the cage bars.
‘You seem to bring out new and unimagined dimensions from both me and Kooky Bear.’
‘Pooky Bear.’
‘Right.’
I step over a hole that someone must have crawled out of.
‘Come on. Say it, Raffe.’ I give him a half smile. ‘I love it when you say Pooky Bear. It’s just so perfect when it comes out of your mouth.’
‘She might kill you in your sleep one of these days just so she can get rid of that name.’
‘Can’t she have a new name now that she can be with you again?’
‘You were her last solo wielder, so she’s stuck with the name until she gets a new solo wielder.’
I keep expecting him to ask for his sword now that he has his angel wings back, but he hasn’t. I wonder if he’s still annoyed with her for showing me his private moments. I can feel Pooky Bear’s yearning to be held by him, but I don’t say anything. This is one fight I should stay out of.
We set the cage down behind the outer building. It’s quiet and deserted here.
Josiah shakes his head but is no longer arguing against the idea. He’s right. We all agree that it’s a terrible plan. But when Raffe asked him to come up with a less terrible idea, he didn’t have one.
Now that it’s time, my hands tremble as I pull out the sword.
My mind searches frantically for a better plan, but I can’t think of one. We could run away now that Raffe has his wings. But he’s on trial as much as I am. They won’t just let us fly out of here.
If Raffe loses this trial, I die. I’m not sure what will happen to him, but it’s clear what will happen to me. But if Raffe could win this trial by contest and take control of the angels, he’ll take them away. And it’ll all end.